Light emitting diode (LED) based lighting systems may offer several energy and reliability advantages over other types of lighting systems such as, for example, incandescent or fluorescent lighting. Thus, LED based lighting systems may be used to replace other existing lighting technologies. Multicolored LED chips are commonly used in lighting applications where dynamic color mixing is desired. For example, light emitted from different colored LED chips may be mixed together and their respective brightness adjusted in order to produce white light.
One of the challenges faced in a multicolored application is mixing or blending the different colored LED chips properly so as to create uniform light. For example, red, green, and blue light produced by individual LEDs may need to be mixed or blended together to create white light. However, sometimes the light blending is not always consistent. In one approach to alleviate this issue, a solid object may be placed within a lighting device, between the individual LEDs and the diffuser in order to block the light that does not get mixed properly. In another approach, the light sources (e.g., the LEDs) may be positioned closer together such that the light the LEDs generate appears to be combined when viewed from the outside of the light bulb.
In addition to the mixing of light, another challenge faced in LED lighting is the issue of shadowing upon a diffuser of the light bulb. Specifically, sometimes shadows may be cast by objects located within a lighting cavity of the light bulb upon the diffuser. For example, in some types of lamps, the electronic driver circuit board may actually protrude into the lighting cavity. The driver circuit board may cast shadows upon the diffuser of the light bulb. In addition to the electronic driver circuit, other objects located within the lighting cavity that may cast a shadow on the diffuser include, but are not limited to, screws, wires, antennas, and reflectors. Accordingly, the physical structure of the lamp may need to be modified in order to prevent shadows from being cast upon the diffuser. Thus, there exists a continuing need in the art for a lighting device having improved light generating characteristics.